A redesign of the outstanding defects section from the UK government's official Test Completion Report template — the same document used in Case Studies #2 and #6, this time its defect log.
A defect list exists to support a release decision, but a flat table of IDs and severities treats every row as equally worth attention. Whether a defect matters depends on its release impact, not just its severity label — and that judgment is exactly what the template leaves out.
| Defect id | Severity | Agreed action |
|---|---|---|
| DEF-014 | Low | Deferred |
| DEF-021 | Medium | Fix in patch |
| DEF-033 | High | Workaround agreed |
| DEF-040 | Low | Deferred |
See also Exhibit A (exit criteria) and Exhibit F (UAT results) — three separate weak sections in the same official document.
"0 of 6 are release-blocking" answers the question the list was collected to answer.
The shape of remaining risk is visible in one glance instead of row by row.
The full defect log with individual IDs stays exactly where the template already puts it — the Test Management Tool.
A "High" defect with a verified workaround and a "Medium" defect with no fix scheduled carry very different weight at release time. Stating that difference explicitly is the actual work of a defect analysis — a severity column alone is just a log.
If you've got a defect log, bug triage report, or QA summary where severity data exists but release impact doesn't, I'll take one page and redesign it — no cost, no obligation — the same way as above.